Touch base

Touch base

DEFINITION: to briefly make contact with someone

EXAMPLES:

• Let’s touch base next week after your big test is over, and then we can figure out where we can meet for lunch.
• I touched based with my friend before he left for his trip.

ORIGIN: This reference stems from baseball, the quintessential American pastime. There are 4 bases in the game, and the reference means to “touch base” to score a “run” (point).

(Hint: Americans love using sports terminology in their idioms. Here is a complete list.)

Baseball players must touch four bases to score a run. By the way, have you ever heard the phrase “touch base” being used, not necessarily related to this sport? Touch base means to briefly talk to someone to learn how they are or to know what is happening. Therefore, basically, “I will touch base with you” means “I will contact with you.” To use this phrase, you should conjugate “touch” depending on the subject of a sentence because “touch” is the verb in this expression. A current example would be: “I will call Kevin next Friday to touch base.”

Related Links:

• https://www.grammarly.com/blog/touch-base/
• https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/touch-base-with-someone
• https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/touch-base-alternatives
• https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/touch-base-with-somebody